故宫The Forbidden CityWord下载.docx

故宫The Forbidden CityWord下载.docx

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TheForbiddenCityhasahistoryofnearly600years.Itwasbuiltin1420duringtheMingDynasty.

EmperorZhuYuanzhangestablishedtheMingDynastyin1368,andthenhesetuphiscapitalinNanjing.ButafterthethirdMingemperorZhuDicametothethronein1402,hedecidedtomovecapitalfromNanjingtoBeijing.

TheconstructionontheForbiddenCitystartedin1406andcompletedin1420.AfteritscompletionthecapitalwasmovedfromNanjingtoBeijingin1421.AfterthatthefollowingMingEmperorsandalltheQingEmperorslivedandhandledstateaffairsintheForbiddenCity.Therewere14MingEmperorsand10QingEmperorswholivedintheForbiddenCity.

In1911theQingDynastywasoverthrownbythe1911RevolutionledbyDr.SunYat-sen.Butafter1911,basedonthe19articlesofthepreferentialtreatmentfortheQingcourt,thelastemperorPuyiandhisroyalfamilywerestillallowedtoliveintheinnercourtoftheForbiddenCity.Butin1924theyweredrivenoutofthePalace.Oneyearlater,onOctober10th,1925,theForbiddenCitywasconvertedintothePalaceMuseumandopenedtothepublic.

In1961,thePalaceMuseumwaslistedastheimportanthistoricalmonumentsunderspecialpreservationbytheChineseGovernment.In1987itwaslistedasaWorldCulturalHeritagesitebyUNESCO.

DuringtheMingandQingDynasties,theemperor’sresidencewasforbiddentotheordinarypeople.Inthefeudalsociety,theemperorhadsupremepowerandhebelievedhewasthepersonjustbelowheavenbutaboveallthepeople.Inanotherwords,thecommonpeoplewereforbiddentoentertheimperialpalace.Hencethename“ForbiddenCity”.

ButinChinese,theimperialpalacealsocalled“PurpleForbiddenCity”.Theword‘Purple’comesfromancientChineseastronomers’beliefthatpurplewasthesymboliccoloroftheNorthStar.InancientChina,astronomersputthestarsintothreeconstellations.ThePurpleStarwaslocatedinthecenteroftheuniverse,whichwasbelievedtobethecenterofthecosmos,andthePalaceonthePurpleStarwascalledtheSonofHeaven,andhealsobelievedthathisImperialPalacewasinthecenteroftheearth,forhispalacewasbuiltalongthenorth-southcentralaxisofthecapitalcityofBeijing,thenhecalledhisForbiddenCity“PurpleForbiddenCity”.

TheForbiddenCitycoversanareaof72hectareswithatotalfloorspaceofabout150000squaremeters.Itisrectangularinshape,about960meterslongfromnorthtosouth,and750meterswidefromeasttowest,surroundedwitha10-meterhighcitywalland52-meterwidemoat.

MostoftheStructuresinTheForbiddenCityweremadeofwoodwithwhitemarble,stoneorbrickfoundations.Thebuildingmaterialsarefromdifferentpartofourcountry.ThetimbersintheMingDynastywerecutfromsouthwestpartofourcountry,butintheQingDynasty,thetimberwastransportedfromnortheastpartofourcountry.ThestonesandmarblewerefromFanshanDistrict,70kilometersfromBeijing.ThebricksusedforbuildingthecitywallweretransportedformLinqing,Shandongprovince;

whilethebricksusedforlayingfloorsinsidewerespeciallymadeinJiangsuProvince.Therewerealtogether230000artisansandmorethanamillionciviliansinvolvedinbuildingTheForbiddenCity.ItwasreallyaconstructionandahardjobfortheChineselaboringpeople.

TalkingabouttheroomsintheForbiddenCity.Thefamoussayingisthatthereare9999andahalfroomsinTheForbiddenCity,justahalfroomlessthanthe“HeavenlyPalace”.Itwassaidthattheemperoronearthdidn’tdaretocomparehimselfwiththeGodofHeaven.ThereforethenumberofroomsintheImperialPalacewasahalfroomless.Butthefactisthat,accordingtotherecordin1973,TheForbiddenCityconsistsof90palacesandcourtyards,980buildingswithroomsof8704.

TheForbiddenCitycanbedividedinto2parts:

theouterCourtandtheInnerPalace.TheOuterCourtwastheplacewheretheemperorsattendedthegrandceremoniesandconductstateaffairs.TheInnerPalacewasthelivingquartersfortheemperors,empressandhisimperialconcubines.

TheForbiddenCitywasbuiltalongthecentralaxis.Thebuildingsalongthecentralaxisare:

TheMeridianGate,theGateofSupremeHarmony,theHallofSupremeHarmony,theHallofMiddleHarmony,theHallofPreservingHarmony,theGateofHeavenlyPurity,thePalaceofHeavenlyPurity,thePalaceofUnionandPeace,thePalaceofEarthlyTranquilityandtheImperialGarden.

THEMERIDIANGATE

TherearefourgateineachsideoftheForbiddenCity.TheMeridianGateisthemainentrancetotheForbiddenCityandalsothesouthgateoftheForbiddenCity.ItiscalledMeridianGatebecausetheemperorbelievedthatthemeridianlinejustwentthroughtheForbiddenCityandhisimperialresidencewasthecenterofthewholeuniverse.Inaddition,accordingtotheancientChinesecompass,theMeridianindicatedthesouth,soitwasalsoservedasthesouthgateoftheImperialPalace.

TheMeridianGateis35metershigh,itwasfirstbuiltin1420,andwasrebuiltin1647.Therearefivetowerssurmountedonthetopofthegate,soitwasalsonicknamedasthe“FivePhoenixTower”.Themaintowerislocatedinthecenterwithfoursquare-shapedtowersineachother.Thefoursidetowersareconnectedbycoveredgalleries.Insidethetowerbellsanddrumswereinstalled.Intheolddays,whentheemperorwenttotheAltersandtheTempleofHeaven,bellswerestruck,andwhentheemperorwenttotheSupremeAncestralTemple,thedrumswerebeatentomakeitdowntothepublic.Whilewhenthehighrankingofficialscametoattendthegrandceremonies,boththebellsanddrumswereusedasasignalofenteringinandoutrespectively.

Therearemainly2functionsoftheMeridianGate:

thefestiveactivitiesandtheofficialceremonies.

ThefestiveactivitiesmainlywerepopularfestivalsheldinfronttheMeridianGateduringtheMingandQingDynasties,suchas:

theSpringFestival,theDragonBaotFestival,theDoubleNineFestivaletc.

Theofficialceremoniesmainlyweretwo:

First,theceremonyofannouncingthenewlunaryearcalender.Everyyearthenewlunaryearcalenderwasannouncedonthefirstdayofthe10thlunarmonthattheMeridianGate.Secondonewastheceremonyof“AcceptingCaptivesofWar”.Whenageneralreturnedfromabattle,hiscaptiveswouldbeofferedinaceremonyhere,whichwasservedasthevictoriousceremony.

CourtBeatingusedtobehappenedinfrontoftheMeridianGate,whichwasakindofpunishmenttopunishthoseofficialsbybeatingtheirbuttockswithsticks.Anyofficialswhowentagainsttheemperor’swishesandincurredtheemperor’sdisfavorwouldbetakenoutoftheMeridianGateandgotbeaten.Accordingtotherecordin1519,morethan150officialstriedtodissuadetheemperorfromgoingtothesouthtoselectbeauties.Thatmadetheemperorveryangry,the158officialsgotbeatenand15ofthemwerebeatentodeathonthespot.Onceagain,in1524,134officialsgotbeatenbecausetheydissuadetheemperorfrompromotinghisfathertothe“TitleoftheEmperor”,17ofthemdiedonthespot.Fortunately,thiskindofpunishmentwasabolishedintheQingDynasty.

DuringtheMingandQingDynasties,thecentralpassagewaywasonlyfortheemperor.Butapartfromtheemperortheempresscouldusethecentralpassagewayonlyonceinherwholelife.Itwasonthedayshegotmarriedduringtheimperialweddingceremony.Ontheday,theempresswaspermittedtoentertheForbiddenCitythroughthemiddledoorway.However,onthedaytheimperialpalaceexamresultswereannounced,thetopthreeoutstandingscholarswereallowedtotothroughthecentralgateintheForbiddenCity.Thehigh-rankingcivilandmilitaryofficialsusedtheeastgate,andtheroyalfamilymemberswentinthroughthewest.Thetwosmalleronesonbothsidesatthecornerwereforthelow-rankingofficials.

Duringthepalaceexam,thecandidateswentinfromthetwosidegatesaccordingtotheirnumbers.Thecandidateswithoddnumberusedtheleftsidegatewhilethecandidateswithevennumberusedtheright.

TheMeridianGatehavefiveopenings.Inthisway,threeobviousdoorwaycanbeeasilyseenoutsidetheMeridianGate,andtwosidegateswerehiddenfromview.ButallfivedoorwayscanbeseenafterwalkingthroughtheMeridianGateandturningaround.Thisisatypicalbuildingmethodforthiskindofgate:

threeobviousgatescanbeseenfromtheoutside,butfivedoorwayscanbeseenfrominside.

THEGATEOFSUPREMEHARMONY

EntertheMeridianGate,therearefivemarblebridgeontheInnerGoldenWaterRiver,shapedlikeabow.ThefivebridgesweresupposedtorepresentthefivevirtuespreachedbyConfucius:

benevolence,righteousness,propriety,intelligenceandfidelity.ThefunctionoftheInnerGoldenWaterRiverwasfordrainingtherainingwateraway.

TherearetwobronzelionsinfrontoftheGateofSupremeHarmony.Oneismaleandtheotherisfemale.Inancienttimes,stoneandbronzelionswerefrequentlyseeninfrontofthegatesasguardians.Thebronzelionsservedasdoorkeepersbecausetheirawesomelooks,andtheywereplaceinfrontofthegatetowardofevilspiritstoo.

Themalelionwasusuallypositionedontheleft,playingwithaball,whichissaidtoshowtheemperor’ssupremepowertocontrolthewholeuniverse.Thefemalelionisontheright,playingwithalioncubwithherleftpaw,symbolizingprosperityoftheroyalfamily’soffspring.Thebabylionislyingonitsbackwithhismother’spawonhismouth.

TheGateofSupremeHarmonyisthefrontgateofthethreemainhallsintheoutercourtoftheForbid